In May of 2019, our hearts broke when we heard the words no parent should ever hear, “Your baby has cancer.” What started as a routine 4-month pediatrician appointment where I casually mentioned her bloated belly (that many had dismissed as normal) ended with us being admitted to the pediatric oncology unit at Johns Hopkins.
After weeks of waiting, we were given the news of her Stage 4S Neuroblastoma diagnosis – one so rare in which the cancer would go away on its own without any intervention or treatment. Her body would essentially do naturally what chemo is created to do. We were elated!
Two years later, we announced it had been 2 years since Zoey’s original cancer diagnosis and how fortunate we were that Zoey was spared having to go through treatments and that she got to live a normal happy life as a rambunctious toddler. We put on her signature F-Cancer shirts and celebrated her cancerversary.
In June, our hearts broke all over again when we heard the words no parent of a child whose cancer had been curing itself for over 2 years should ever hear… “The CT scan results came back… They show a progression of the cancer.” Cancer had said F you right back.
Because the cancer cells had spread from her liver to her rib, her new diagnosis is Stage 4 High-Risk Neuroblastoma, and she has to undergo an extremely aggressive treatment protocol which consists of 5 rounds of chemo, 2 rounds of stem cell transplant therapy, 6 rounds of radiation, and 6 rounds of immunotherapy which will last anywhere from 13-18 months. It has been hard seeing our beautiful little girl go through such toxic treatments, but she has astonished us with her strength and resilience. Even when Zoey is feeling her worst, she still manages to give us the biggest, most contagious cheeses and make us laugh through our tears with her goofy personality.
Over the past 1.5 years, I started a bow shop called Zoey’s Boweys where I donate a portion of profits to pediatric cancer research. To date, we have donated over $20,000.
Hope session by Terri Bryant Photography | Facebook | Instagram